After planting in the garden all morning, the rains set in. So, we all headed indoors for an afternoon of baking bread and learning a little history about this universal food.Bread HistoryThe Hungarians have a
saying: “Bread is older than man.” More than 12,000 years ago, man made flat bread by
crushing wheat with a mortar and pestle before mixing the flour with water. The bread was baked in the sun. Later, dough would be baked on heated rocks or in the hot ashes of a fire. It was
said the Egyptians created “starter” wild yeast from the air
that was kept and mixed with other dough. There is also a legend of a slave forgetting about some dough; when he come back, the dough doubled in size. He tried
to hide his mistake and started punching. The result? Lighter bread. Once
barley and wheat found use, it started the Neolithic or "New Stone Age". The farming culture raised up. In Old Testament times, women were the
bakers. Through the years millstones gained prominence for grinding wheat and the
refinement of the flour made it possible to bake white bread. In that time,
white bread was the most valuable bread of them all. Later on, the stone mill came into use. With Americans growing wheat, it was easier to make white bread. White bread no longer was just for the rich.

Making Bread

To make our dill bread (featuring fresh dill from the garden!), we followed a simple set of instructions. First, we mixed the yeast into a little bit of warm water.
While we waited for the yeast to become active, we made the dough using 3 cups
of bread flour and water. Then we added a mixture of thyme and sesame seeds to
the dough for flavor. To save time, we used a processor to mix the dough
instead of kneading it by hand. When we discovered there was a little too much
dough for the processor, we divided it into three sections and used the
processor on one section while kneading the other two sections in flour. When
all three sections were ready, we combined them into one ball of dough and added
some fresh dill we harvested from the herb garden by cutting the dill into fine
sections and rolling the kneaded dough into it. After that, we coated the dough
in olive oil before placing it in the oven to rise. After an hour in the oven (350 degrees),
we took the dough out and sectioned it into two rolls and rolled both loaves in
more olive oil before placing it back into the oven to rise a second time before baking
it.

Better Farm

Setting up for betterArts’ Children’s Room at this year’s North Country Goes Green Irish Fest in Watertown March 16-18. Thanks to the volunteers who came out to support our sister organization, which functions to expand access to the arts for all. www.betterarts.org

Snack break on a snowy afternoon.

Our compost initiative is expanding! Many thanks to @clayton_food_co_op for getting on board by donating food scraps to Better Farm to be fed to our sanctuary animals and turned into soil. Food waste accounts for up to 40 percent of “garbage” — so separating scraps out of what we throw away means a massive reduction in landfill waste. Compost contributes to soil regeneration, and fresh food scraps replace or supplement animal feed, reducing carbon emissions associated with food processing and transportation. Composting is a radical act we can all be doing several times every single day.

When archaeologists visit Better Farm.

February 28. Canadian border of New York. Garlic already sprouting. #thesethingsarenotnormal

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A little pre-spring dirt worship with the girls.

Get on the bus! Registration for our 2018 sustainability program is now open, with lots of dates to choose from! bit.ly/2oAFFnh

#farmlife

Very excited to announce our new partnership with DiPrinzio’s Kitchen in Clayton! The fine-dining Italian restaurant and catering company is saving all its table scraps to be used as Better Farm’s gardens and fed to the pigs and chickens. Big ups to @mollicathebaker for facilitating this fabulous new project!

Neigh-bors Riddler, Blaze and Red enjoying the breakfast buffet.

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#mondaymood

Sunday Funday with Buffalo the alpaca.

Nice haul today from a standing dead oak tree. #woodstoveseason

Somebody is SO EXCITED about all this fresh, organic hay! Thanks to everyone near and far who generously made donations to keep the hay supply flush alllllll winter long. Better Farm and all its beautiful beasts love you! 🐓🐖🦒🐴🦆🐥